ED conducts searches at premises linked to Punjab Minister Arora; second within month

Chandigarh: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday conducted searches at four premises linked to Punjab Industry Minister Sanjeev Arora and his associates under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) of 2002.

This is the third raid in a year. In April, the ED had raided Arora’s locations for the second time. According to officials, the searches are being carried out in Chandigarh and the Delhi-NCR region.

The premises being searched include the official residence allotted to Arora as the Cabinet minister in Chandigarh.

Responding to the raid, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann accused the BJP of misusing central agencies. In a post on X, Mann wrote, “Today, once again, the BJP’s ED has come to Sanjeev Arora’s house. In one year, this is the third time the BJP’s ED has come to his house. And in the last one month, the second time. Yet, they haven’t found anything.”

He further wrote, “I want to tell Modi-ji that Punjab is the land of the Gurus, which even Aurangzeb could not subdue. This is the land of Bhagat Singh, who never bowed before the British, so Punjab will never bow before Modi’s tactics. The end of this unethical alliance of ED-BJP will begin from Punjab itself.”

In 2024, Arora, the legislator from Ludhiana (West), had faced ED’s raids in a money laundering case related to the alleged conversion of industrial land for residential projects.

At that time, he was a Rajya Sabha MP. Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia said the ED raids have been linked to Hampton Sky Realty Ltd. “The ED is probing an alleged Rs 100 crore fake GST mobile phone purchase and export racket linked to money laundering and round tripping of funds from Dubai to India,” Majithia wrote on X.

“Fake GST bills from non-existing Delhi firms were allegedly used to claim fraudulent ITC, export refunds and duty drawback benefits. Probe points towards massive loss to the exchequer and alleged personal enrichment,” he alleged.

–IANS